Tara - thanks for the invite. I really wish I had the time to do something organized like that. The reality is that my training hours often fall at odd hours when I can squeeze them in. I don't race much, I might ran a 5k this summer, but otherwise my next race is likely going to be Cow Harbor 10k in September. (Great race by the way, if you've never run it, you should consider it)... That being said, I checked out the website of your team, and it looks like a really fun group and a great resource that I would take advantage of in the future if I were able to put in the time. Anyway, it's cool to have someone else local on this thread, as I'm sure well have more races in common in the future. One of the things I like about this thread is that there's a good mix of faster folks that are sub-130 as well as people like me that aren't quite there yet...

Piwi - that seems like a story worth sharing with the group :-)

Angel/csab - agreed, I paid the price for that first mile.

Brent - Glad you have good news from the DR. Good luck on the race, and I hope your health issues are behind you. Re the watch, I got a garmin forerunner 405cx about 2 years ago, so I wear a heart rate strap. I don't look at the heart rate while I'm racing, but it's nice to have the data afterwards. It generally takes a mile or two even at a hard pace for my HR to climb, so my HR was higher than it should have been in miles 2-3 as a result of that fast first mile. It's a useful tool for tempo runs as well. I'm a big data nerd - I enjoy crunching the numbers on my workouts. I'm thinking the next toy that I "need" is a foot pod so I can track cadence as well..... Not that any of this makes me a faster runner, lol.

For me, rest day yesterday. My Quads were pretty tore up from the race, but I got an easy 3M at 8.5M pace to work out the kinks this morning.

spilima - Your recovery run went better than mine. By the time I got home from work last night it was 8 when I started. I did my first mile in 10:24 haha. I literally laughed out loud when I saw my watch. Ended up doing 3.15 miles, and made it in under 10m pace at 9:50min/mil overall. It felt promising that the legs came back a little after the first 1.25 miles, but still no where near recovered. Stretched last night, but woke up stiffer this morning than I did yesterday. Yesterday it was just calves/hammys, now I feel it in my quads too. Oy vey!

Skippy - thanks for the welcome and congrats on getting hitched! Have fun, and take it easy. Get back to work after the honeymoon. lol

On deck for today... track workout with them team. Won't know exactly what it is until we are done with it (always fun). Let's hope coach goes easy on those of us who raced Sunday!

Hey all, I'm a bit behind on responses but I'm mostly caught up on the reading.

First of all, great races everyone.

PK - Solid race. 1:27 is a great time in my book. With a good training cycle you should approach PR territory next time. Very nice hardware as well. I hope you win the big daddy next year.

csab - Awesome race! You can't ask for much more than that. I haven't had a chance to read the RR yet. I'm looking forward to it though.

Joe - 1:35 is nothing to sneeze at. Build on it with another quality training cycle and you should be close to the 1:30 mark. Hopefully on the under side of that number.

jaimegu - A PR is always an accomplishment. Good effort from you. Look for a fall half marathon to break 90 minutes.

skippy - congrats to you. I hope you two live happily ever after.

brent - Glad the doctor gave you good news.

Everyone else, sorry if I missed you. I'll get to you next time.

me - My training has been a bit day to day. My back is better. I believe it was carrying my laptop around in a backpack that hurt me. I bought a quality laptop bag and it hasn't been an issue since. My leg has been a little iffy at times, mostly on slanted roads. I've done runs of 40,50,60 minutes and a 6.5 mile effort followed by a rest day. Today is the day I'm going to see if it's still bothering me. :fingers crossed:

Brent- stoked for you getting off the meds. I know we are all super impressed at your come back and hope you have a great race. My shoes are bright green and ny race shirt from the weekend is bright green too so I am going for the Kermit frog look.

CSAB- Nice avi pic although it always cuts off either the legs or head. Just make sure you get out of Scott Dixons way, he is a kiwi and the main reason I watch Indy cars.

Tarface- Im still sore from my race and my first kms have been super slow. I expect to get overtaken by an old lady with a walking frame.

Spilima- your quads too huh. I think I need to do some more hills as I have been avoiding them since my injury in feb.

Skip- welcome to the club that is prison, whoops I mean marriage haha. I hope you have a great day.

djw - that's a quadrathlon isn't it? Or is the gambling/drinking a whole other competition?

brent - don't do it, lol. If you think running takes up a lot of time, don't plan on just doubling that time and doing as much biking as running, more like triple your overall time. Biking can easily be twice as long in time as running, and that isn't even counting making sure all your stuff is ready for your ride and being prepared for flats, etc. Biking tends to cost more too. On a bright side though, if you can ride your bike to and from work it doesn't take up that much more time and saves money on gas.

skippy - thanks!

tarface - reading about the agony of others makes me feel a little better, lol. Great job on your 25 minute PR and I bet you will be back to running your usual paces soon enough ... welcome to the board too!

skippy - thanks!

TGS - thanks! I really feel good about that run and the rest of this year's racing season. I have at least 4 more events lined up this year and feel way more confident about my running part of those than I did last year.

Me - resting today due to time constraints of work and pool league playoffs. Did 2 easy miles yesterday (didn't wear a watch or check time at all), and then walked the dog for about a mile. Tomorrow I plan on getting out and biking at least an hour, then thursday I want to do a 60 minute run at whatever pace feels like zone 2.

Joe - enjoy the rest, one of the reason most days I run early in the morning is to try to get the run in.

Gold - I hope your back and leg feel better soon, it might be the heavy pack.

csab - that's a nice picture!

tarface - I hope you have a fast recovery and the couch doesn't punish you too much on the track.

spilima - same wishes for a fast recovery. After my first HM past year I was a wreck for a solid week, now I recover faster and i credit it to the higher mileage.

Brent - That sounds like good news on the medical front, keep us posted!

me - 10 miles today with a few runners from the group. Legs felt like crap for the first half and eventually things were a little better after that. I think I may start to experiment getting rid of the rest day some weeks and have a short recovery run instead and see if the legs feel better the day after. May wait for the summer though.

Spilima - i'll add your Disney race (and maybe myself too) to the list. I've been very much considering that race myself. The night start looks cool. It all depends on if I can find a good all inclusive vacation package. I'd like to make a whole week out of it. (oh and I may need another tag-along to watch my girls when I race, lol). I'm sure he/she won't mind a free vacation.

skipp - congrats on tying the knot. Hope it's a great day for you both.

csab - shiny new pic you got there.

tar - how did the track workout go? you guys do something different each time?

TGS - hope you work out those little kinks in the legs and back.

Joe - nah all one competition! Pool league huh? Ever throw darts? I was in a soft tip bar dart league in a previous life. Could you explain to me the different zones? Are they based on heart rate?

kiwi - I agree, the more the better in the thread. Gets pretty hard to reply to everyone though. Sounds like you had a fun beach run.

Angel - do you always have one rest day per week? I don't think I could go without mine.

8 miles monday @ 7:12 pace. 8 miles yesterday @ 7:27 pace. No speedwork this week aside from maybe a low volume one on friday for a sharpener for 5k saturday.

DJ - Yes, something different every time. Tuesdays are always track work though, and Thursdays are hill repeats, but the make up of the workouts themselves is always different. He also won't let us know the whole workout. I guess he figures we'll hold back if we know exactly what we have to do. I guess he's right, but I'm a control freak.

Here's the report of last night...

Track work yesterday with the team was supposed to help us recover, which it did, though it exhausted me. Never would have though in a million years that 800 and 400 repeats would help sore tight legs, but they did. We were advised to go at 10k pace...

Spillma - I'm a data guy, too. When I first started running, I didn't log all of my runs. I see such a huge benefit in doing that. HR info is fun. You can see how your body is affected by everything. I can run at 7:30 pace on the TM and have a heartrate range of 15 bpm depending on (I'm guessing) all of the external things like sleep, diet, stress level, previous training, etc.

Skippy - Congrats on the big day!

PK - My shoes are some wicked combination of pink, purple, blue and neon yellow. I'm all about the wild and crazy shoes.

Joe Dumas - Those are all reasons I'm not into biking. I really got discouraged a few years ago when I did a triathlon. I kept getting passed on the bike by all these fat guys on really nice bikes. I knew I was in better shape than them and I just kept getting increasingly more ticked off because I knew my 20-year old 10-speed couldn't compete with their $2,500 road bikes. It's the same reason I struggle with golf. Cool sport, but I don't want to feel like I've gotta drop another thousand dollars on equipment every year just to be competitive...

tarface - Nice workout. Are you helping out w/ a HS/college team or do you have a group of adults that run track workouts together?

RAN - Good to hear you are on the mend!

Me - Yesterday was my first full day on 1/2 doses of my drug. It'll take 10 total days to wean me off completely. It was insane how much easier it is to run with less of the "anti-PED" coursing through my system. I easily did a steady state 10 miler in 10 seconds per mile faster faster than any run I've done in the past 5 weeks (7:13 pace). It makes me so excited just because I feel like I don't have this external force that is slowing me down. It also makes me excited because I'd guess it's going to get better as I take less of this drug and eventually none. I'd come to terms with the fact that my running was going to be messed up, but I was trying to make the best of it. Really excited just to be done with it and running what I know I'm capable of.

Brent - glad to hear that you are starting to feel back to yourself. Can't wait to hear reports when you are completely weaned. It's a mental stress when you know something is holding you back but can't do anything to change it. Glad you made the change =)

I run with a local running club. Mixed age/gender. Most of the athletes that make it to practice every week are master's level, but they are still pretty fast. A few younger guys are starting to come back and should be more by the summer once everyone is done with hs/college. I'm in a weird spot being that I'm one of the youngest (24) that is in the working world and able to come to practices. Excited for the summer though when the younger guns come back. I will really be pushed to work hard, and cannot wait for it.

Spilima/Brent - I'm with you on the data. I am very analytical and look at everything. I don't have a heart rat monitor, but started keeping logs of how I "feel," as well as pace, mileage, etc. Today on my lunch break I will actually be looking back over the last 4 months and plan my next 4-5. I'm looking to up my mileage but want to see what I've actually done recently so I can up it wisely. I am notorious for doing too much too fast!

Spil- weather def could’ve been the difference, but also for sure that first blazing fast mile. Cool you two got interviewed. Make sure you save that paper for to look at in a few years. Hope the legs turn around quickly. It took me until week 2 to get back some mileage.

Tar- I’m 5’3” so I know all about drafting. Looks like your legs are good to go.

Csab- that’s a pretty darn fast almost 9 miler just a few days out. For my half, I only managed 12 miles the week after. All of them 8:30 ish pace

Pk- if I can get back to HS times, I’d be stoked. Maybe next year. Ah, the anticipation of craft beer, it’s great when you discover how good beer can taste. Wow 800 miles?! I’ve got 4 pairs of shoes I rotate through, 480 miles, 390, 380, and 200miles. Yea this thread is loaded with people! Tough to stay on top of it if you miss even 1 day.

Angel- I think it’ll be fun to just hop in races with no expectations. I do find also that if I do an easy 3 miler the day after a tough workout or LR, my legs feel better sooner. But that’s moreso when I’m used to the mileage. So for now, I’ll continue to give myself 1-2 rest days per week.

Brent- a 10k is an odd race, it’s not quite all out like a 5k, but not comfortable. I need to do a few more. I’ve only done 2, 44:06 and then the 42:41 when I PR’d, but I def had waaay to much left in me. Very glad about your med situation. Now you have no excuses for not aiming for sub 90

Skip- yeah it was def a good time. Normally the races I do for 5ks are at least in the 400-500 range. It was nice only have 100 people. Very solid week. Congrats on the pending wedding

Csab- very cool picture!

Tgs- hope it’s nothing serious and just general fatigue/soreness

Joe- enjoy the rest. Take as much time as you need to recover fully. I only ran 3 days for 12 miles after my half.

Djw- your “no speedwork” weeks are faster than a lot of our speed work weeks

Run- glad to see the ITB issues seem to have resolved. We hope to see some nice races from you soon.

Tar/brent/spil- I like data as well. I started keeping a running log too with info to see what worked well and what didn’t

Me- I was going to just do an easy 9 Monday, but decided to do two 1 mile pickups in there at 10k effort (6:42/6:48). I'm happy with those splits as the legs were still tired from racing/increased mileage and those two miles happened to be all uphill. Tuesday was 8 easy. Today will join the LRS, it’s been awhile since I’ve run with them. They do track workouts on Wednesday now, so it’ll be nice to do some non-solo intervals.

philly - I got caught up in the half marathon shout-outs I forgot to congratulate you on the sweet 5k time. I've never trained specifically for that distance myself, it's usually whatever is left over after everything else. I didn't compete in high school so I don't have any glory days to look back and compare my current times to.

brent - Encouraging news about your health. Glad to hear it.

RE: biking - If you can bike to work you will have an easier time convincing the Mrs. to roll with it. I too had a 1980's 10 speed that was faster than anything else I had ridden but not as fast as the newer carbon bikes. I rode to work and pretty much everywhere since I didn't have a car and public transit just blows. Then I would run 3-4 miles every once in a while.

PK - I bought a pair of Nike Free that are grey/lime and recently found shorts and a tech shirt that match. I too am rocking the Kermit look.

RAN - Glad to see you making a comeback.

DJW - Good luck on Saturday.

Angel - I like my rest day. I use it to do some kind of non-running active recovery.

me - I'm doing better after the extra rest day. Yesterday was 6.25 miles in 50:09 as I had a time constraint and that's all I could do. My leg felt good although it still hurts a little when I run on a slant and the right takes the shorter stride. When it slants the other way it's fine. I think my daily shoes weren't helping my cause any so I'm wearing my old Nike Free shoes at work today to see how that affects matters. I'd like to get a tempo in today since I did no speed at all last week but I'm willing to call it if it hurts. The forced cutback seems to have benefited me thus far.

Thagoldstandard - I know exactly what you mean about slant with ITB issues (didn't see past posts, assuming that's what you meant). ITB has been my newest problem in my second running life (post college). For me it's the right side, and for some reason my runs/races/track work (obvious) I am always slanting to the left, which pulls on and aggravates the right. I make it a point sometimes to run the opposite way (even if it is just circle around a tree in my yard) to balance things out.

Philly - power to the short people! Yesterday the guy who was pushing me on the 800's and 400's was probably about 6-2. His legs started at my rib cage. Sometimes I feel intimidated starting races up front with all these long legged men, but I just tell myself that good things come in small packages. And I do end up finishing before a good deal of them. Funny thing, I over heard someone talking before the start once to another guy, just as the "these guys have mile long legs" thought was running through my head. IDK what these guys were talking about, but all I heard the one guy say was "looks can be deceiving." I'd like to think he was talking about me. lol I also agree on doing interval work with someone else. Made a big difference once I started training with the team. Good for you.

DJW - I am not any good at darts, lol. I used to play pool 6-7 days a week many years ago and got really good. Now I just play once a week, but that's enough to still be competitive.

brent - that is awesome! BTW, just say no ... drugs are bad. Seriously though, it is great that your doctor is supporting you and you are already feeling better. Also, I have a road bike I bought like 10 years ago, last year I spent about 300 on pedals, cleats and aero bars. This year I spent about 600 changing handlebars to bullhorns, getting shifters that go on end of aero bars, brake levers on end of bullhorns and also got a new set of wheels, a couple intertubes for training, two expensive ones for racing and a trainer tire. So for 600 bucks, I'd say I found some good deals. My bike weighs about 4 pounds more than a bike that cost 2 grand, but I figure I have made that up plus some by losing like 30 in the past year. I kind of like passing people with expensive bikes and hope that with my weight loss I will do better on hills. Sucked last year being the guy passing people downhill only to get passed by twice as many uphill.

philly - nice mile pickups in your easy run ... I hear you on the rest ... well, sort of. More to come on that.

Me - well, so much for taking it easy. It was a nice enough day today to do some yard work for an hour and a half, then when I went to go on a bike ride it started to sprinkle. So I did my ride inside and my legs felt awesome today ... so I did 22 miles in an hour and felt great. Stayed easy for a while and after 30 minutes just let loose a little more and more.

tgs- thanks, no worries. there's been a ton going on this thread lately. lots of races and great times. i've got a nice high after the 5k and think i'll do a 10k soon. not sure yet, but i might do that 10k patriots run. i'll likely decide the week of depending how the legs feel, since i won't be tapering for it at all. might use it as a tempo possibly too. looks like you may need to start running on the opposite side of the road to balance things out. i switch it up as much as i can to avoid more ITB issues

tar- yeah i still get intimidated in races too, but i know what i can do, so i just keep focused on that. the problem with running with the running store is that it's very hit or miss on who shows up. so there were many times we'd have 20 people, but i'd be the fastest by a large margin and running solo anyways.

Philly - Craft beers and high school times don't mix. I have no beliefs I will ever return to high school times; espicially in the 800 or 5k, oddly I think I could get my 1600 there. It was only after the fact that I realized how out of whack all my prs were back then.

Me: First week of marathon training. Following Pfitz, so M was a rest day (and I nailed it), and he starts you right off with 9 miles, 4 at tempo as the first run on Tu. So that was a fun 16 laps of 6:00 pace. Then 11 this morning. Feels good to be back on a plan as opposed to just general running.

Angel- you are running my km runs in miles 14kms for me 14 miles for you !

LFP- I started 18/70 in january and 2 weeks later got injured. I was struggling on it. I think I took it to easy over xmas and didnt have the base leading in. I will follow it loosely next time.

DJW- one great thing about running is making a weekend away of it with the family. Disney would be awesome for the kids. I usually try and enter them in a kids 1 mile or something so they feel part of the day.Looking forward to your 5km result.

RAN- great to hear you are slowly coming back.

Tarface- Im 5'8 but pretty sure I have short legs. I also hate wearing short shorts and when I try them on in sports shops I look like a dork so I always opt for medium length which makes my legs look shorter ! As I said earlier winner London Marathon 5'2 time 2hrs 6 mins.

Brent- if you run a good time Im calling for a drugs test ! Seriously happy for you.

Philly- Ive got no high school times and wouldnt have been mentally tough enough for the training back then. I wish I could get my high school looks back though....

Gold- a young handsome man like you can rock the Kermit look but an old grey fart like me just looks silly ! Hope the leg soreness isnt a major.

Joe- 22 miles in an hour ! Thats not running right ?

14kms for me today. Im been a bit naughty and havent let up since the race. Im tricking my body into thinking it was a training run.

Brent - glad you're seemingly getting healthier and closer to your best efforts. Sub 90 a possibility still? I can understand if it's not a goal, but that would be an awesome moment for you considering all you've been through.

TGS - smart thinking to force yourself to lay low a little bit to get over the leg issues you've been having. You'll thank yourself once your fully healthy again.

tar - sounds like a good deal you have going with the running club. Great way to stay motivated and get pushed to your limits and beyond.

joe - ah, good explanation on the zones. I've heard them used in terminology before, but just never really looked into it. Nice bike ride. Better be all good ones from how much $$$ you spend on it! No worries, you can make that up at the casino, lol.

philly - is that a club you can just join up with whenever? either way, might be nice to have some company for speedwork once in a while. I'm not tapering really either for my race saturday. Only thing different is that I didn't do speed work Tuesday. I'll have the same mileage as last week, and treat the 5k as a short, very fast tempo.

lfp - freakin nailed that first day of Pfitz, good job, lol. He likes to throw in some random long runs mid week right?

Angel - very solid tempo / long run there.

Kiwi - Yeah that's a good idea, I'm sure I can find an event for them to enter. It's not set in stone yet, but I sure want to go, I'm ready for a vaca right now! Got til November though. I don't have any high school times either, in fact I'm sure I could outrun my high school self right now. I was fairly athletic though, but my school didn't have track. It's a good sign that you're highly motivated right now.

This thread is moving really fast. I read everyone's posts but it will be hard to reply each.

Skippy: Congratulations again... My best wishes for your happiness, and yes, it's a reason to cutback, but Mrs Skippy should be aware that you run this much.

Tara: Welcome to the thread. You are really fast... Look at those intervals.

Brent: Glad you are getting out of BB. Those are a couple of fast/long workouts. Be careful not getting injured, you are so close to race time and training should be 99% done.

DJW: Good luck in you upcoming race.

Data wise: I'm a data freak too, I compare/analyze even the simplest workout. During races I check splits and HR regularly. My running log is the activity notes in the Garmin Training Center, sometimes I put more info, some times just the shoes I used.

Good running everyone

Me: easy 10K yesterday@8:29

Today I biked to/from the track and decided on a "Tempo", ended 5.25 miles with 4@7:05

lfp- of course they mix, just gotta maximize each properly, just like any training. in regards to HS times, i reall don't know how i ran that fast so easily. i didn't even really start running until the spring of my junior year so i progressed quickly. but i guess if you're inactive for 9 years, it'll take a while. i think my 5k is my best chance, can't imagine touching my 800 (2:04) or mile (4:27). glad you got monday's workout down pact lol

angel- you're my role model right now. i'd love to be where you're at in a year's time.

pk- having HS times is a good and bad thing. first it makes you remember what you might still be capable of. but then you realize you could've been even faster had you not stopped running.. my legs have been tired, but i'll gonna forge through this week as well.

djw- there are 3 running stores nearby. the one i ran with yesterday does a 4-6 mile social run on monday and just started doing track work at the local HS on wednesday. so yeah i can pop on in whenever. my legs felt good post race on sun/mon, but they're tired now.

jaime- nice easy run and very nice tempo. i get serious dead legs after i bike.

me- my legs were beat before we started our warmup yesterday. the store was gonna do 8x400m repeats and i told myself only 4-5 at a comfy pace. I wanted to finish with the feeling that I could have finished the entire workout at the same pace. it's been very tiring on the legs trying to do workouts while increasing mileage. went too fast on the first one, so i cut back a bit on effort.

splits:

79

83

82

82

81

felt i def could've done 8 more at that pace, but called it and did a c/d. i think i'll maintain in the 45-50 mile range this week, my 3rd straight, then cutback to 35-40 next week.

Piwi - I really think the half training helped secure my base. I was hurt a lot last year which made training inconsistent which led to mediocre results. I dropped to the half to rebuild base and build speed. I feel much stronger now than I did at pretty much any point last year. Assuming no bad luck, I will probably follow the plan pretty closely (I will jog an insanely easy 4ish on the rest days, otherwise my legs get tight).

DGW - I don't know if I would call them random, as they are every week. It is an adjustment going from 2 speed, 1 long a week to 1 speed, 2 long.

Philly - I mix them by running in the morning and drinking at night. I tried flipping it a couple times... doesn't work. In HS my 800 was 2:02 and my 5k was <16:10, so I don't think I want to touch those. But the 1600 was only 4:50, which is doable - I may puke, but I could take a shot. You're right though, sometimes it helps to know that you are capable of speed, but other times it just frustrating that it is all gone.

tarface - We've been trying to get something like that going in our community. I help coach our local cross country team, so I wind up running a lot of way too fast (for me) workouts in the fall. Sounds cool, though!

phillypharm - I don't know if I'm going to hop into that 10k this weekend, but if I don't, I'm planning on running a race pace tempo at that distance and see how it feels. I'm hoping that sub-90 is in the cards, but I've had a weird month of training. I guess I'll find out soon enough... Nice workout. I think it's CRUCIAL to finish a workout feeling like you could do more.

jamiegu - I'm gonna be backing off after my longer run this weekend. My "standard" run is 8 miles. I'm planning on running basically the same week next week as I did this weekend with every run backed off on either intensity or length. I feel like I need one more week of gaining confidence before I back off completely. Solid tempo today!

JoeDumas/TGS - Riding to work would be quite a commitment for me. I live about 25 miles from where I work, so that would be a solid 4 total hours of biking each day as opposed to 45 total minutes each day. I thinking biking is a great sport and could see myself get into it as I get older, but right now while I'm working/coaching and have young children, I can carve out enough time to train for running AND biking.

lfp - Pfitz70 was probably my favorite training program I've ever followed. Now, I know enough about running that I kinda beg/borrow/steal from others, but I mostly kind of cobble together my own training program. If you stay committed to it and healthy, though, you are almost guaranteed to make major gains on the Pfitz70 program.

PK - Funny story - the drug I'm on is considered a performance enhancing drug for sports like golf! I should go out for a round before I stop taking the drug completely so I can claim to have competed while taking PEDs... just like Lance! I'm not very good at taking breaks after races. The only time I do is when I used to run marathons, but that was almost forced. My legs felt like garbage for a week after a marathon.

DJW - Hoping sub-90 is still an option. My last month of training has been goofy, so we'll see.

Me - Did an easy 3 miles (8-ish) running around the local bikepath with our dogs. Since about November, I've been in the 30-40 mpw range running about 4 days per week. I'm hoping to get closer to the 40-50 for the next 6 months mostly by adding a few easier runs - probably a fair amount of them getting my dogs out for exercise, pushing my daughter in her stroller, or running with my wife.

tar - I'm not battling ITBS right now. I've had that before and it was an outer knee pain. Not the case this time.

PK - I alway prefer medium length shorts as well. I feel strange in true runner's shorts with the split side. I usually run in Adidas Striker shorts that are comfy and retail for $15 each. Glad you approve of the frog look.

lfp - I'll be following your progress on the Pfitz plan. I may try it when it's my turn to race the marathon. Are you aiming to BQ this year?

jaime - solid tempo.

philly - Patriot's Run is approaching quickly. I'm starting to get excited to race again.

brent - That's too far to bike every day. I was biking 8 miles each way every day at the time.

me - I had done a few pace pick-ups this week and my leg felt good during them so I did a tempo yesterday. 8.8 total miles; 4 @ pace. I worked my way down from 6:58, 6:56, 6:50, 6:41. Not my best run but it felt good after two weeks with no speed. Everything is good today so I can finally stop complaining and just run.

Piwi - You can totally outdo angel's miles in your kilometers! Nice running tho and "tricking" your body. Psssh, who needs a recovery period? And yeh, that was biking. If I could run that fast I would be in the sub 1:30 full marathon thread, haha.

brent - that is awesome ... get your miles up and spend more time with the family and pets! That's a win-win!

TGS - nice run and good to see the progression on it.

Me - 6.7 miles @ about 8 min/mile pace. First mile was 8:31, rest were just above or below 8 minutes. Last 0.7 miles were at 7:00 pace. Felt like a really good and easy pace ... should have a lot more runs around this pace over the next few months.

LFP- sounds like a carbon copy of my situation, injured and rebuilding with half training. Theres no doubt pfitz 18/70 is awesome.

Philly- Angel and CSAB are great role models for sure right now. Theyve built to 60 mpw with fantastic results that you can achieve too.

Jaime- Im only a mediocre data freak. I like the gps stuff but never check my heart rate and seldom my weight.

DJW- Getting excited for your 5k. It will be the sports highlight of the weekend. Are you streaming it live to us with a head cam or something ?

another good 8.75 miles for me today at mostly 7.20 pace. Legs were great. Tomorrow I hope to do my long run of 23kms 14.4 miles. I want these to be greater than half distance to build some strength and endurance. This will end my week on 56 miles with sunday to spare. Not bad post race week. No speedwork till next week though. I want to get in 3 weeks of this mileage before my next half in 4 weeks.

Philly - very nice 400s, good even splits. It's always easy to misjudge the first split a little bit.

lfp - what's your goal for the full, sub 3?

brent - I would say to be able to increase to 50 mpw, you'll no doubt need 6 running days. With your busy schedule that my be tough rough.

joe - funny video. i've never seen that one. did you happen to read the comment by a user name of

"cheapcape?" Kind of off color, but I chuckled at it.

kiwi - definitely got the race jitters going on. It's been so long since my last 5k, I hope I pace it right. I think I'll set my watch to Km, and try to hit even splits for 17 flat, and hope I can hold it. What a week you're having! A couple more solid weeks, a good taper week, and I think you can shoot for 1:22 in your half. (or perhaps better)

Rest day yesterday. Planning on a cut back 6 miles easy today, with some strides, or a low volume workout as a race sharpener.

lfp- i usually do my run in the afternoon, then have my beer afterwards. instant satisfaction. it would be nice to have some track races again, they're tough, but fun and go quickly.

brent- yeah you've had a lot going on lately, but i def believe you can do sub 90 eventually. despite being on the BB, you've been running pretty damn well. once you're off of it completely, you'll be able to run even better. i agree w/ PK, def will need to add another day of running to get the mileage up, but it'll be nice if you do them with the dogs and fam, it won't feel as labor-intensive.

tgs- nice tempo run. if you're running those at HM effort, you'll be in line for a 10k PR possibly. i'm itching to do a 10k, but not sure how i'll feel after flying in friday to race saturday. i'd like to shoot for sub 41 though if i try. we'll see.

pk- i think next year will be the year to work to 60 miles, the winter is a good time for that here. the summer not so much. really good run by you. i'm doing the same thing with overdistance runs. i'd like to sit at 14-15 mile long runs.

djw- thanks, it was nice to run a little faster.

run- glad you got the run in. i tired to get up at 5am today to do an easy 6 miler, no luck.. i'll now have to suffer through my run after work when it's 80+ and rainy today.

me- 9 recovery miles yesterday. legs are definitely looking forward to the cutback week next week. just gotta do a 6 miler today and a LR on sunday of 14. i need to start building some strength so i'll be starting crossfit tomorrow. hopefully it won't leave me too sore for sunday's LR.. i haven't done much strength since march and i'm already noticing some slight aches in the knee again, so need to start preventative measures again.

TGS - Nice workout. I always get nervous if I take a little time off of speed workouts. If the hard is a fairly tough one, I'm pretty good at getting myself psyched out that I won't be able to handle it. Sometimes just making it through the workout, even if it's not a "workout for the ages" so to speak, makes you mentally tougher. BTW - completely agree with you about split leg runners shorts. I've got two pairs that have been deemed "for my basement treadmill use only" by society and my semi-thunderous thighs.

PK - Very nice bounce back week. I do a majority of my long runs longer than the half distance to. Actually, I've been half debating getting back into the marathons because I've been doing 14-18 mile long runs for a solid 6 months now and am feeling really good about my strength and endurance (not so much the speed right now, though).

DJW - That's exactly what I'm planning. My schedule is actually not busy until about November now, though. I have a hard time running more than 4 days per week during the winter, but I do pretty good getting my runs in once spring/summer comes. During the fall, I help coach cross country, so I have no trouble getting big miles in. Excited to see what you do in that 5k... good luck!

phillypharm - Thanks... I'm hoping my last previous six months of training and a solid last 3-4 weeks is enough to make up for the somewhat "lost" month I had. I've been thinking of trying to start a routine of doing some core strength that we do with your HS runners during the XC season, but I've had a laundry list of excuses. I've even thought of trying to do 3 days a week of some strength stuff during summer. At some point, I'm going to need to follow your example and actually do it. It's really limiting me right now, I can tell.

Me - A "mandatory" day off yesterday (mandated, of course, by the women who lives in my house and happens to be related to be my marraige. I had to help clean the house for a baby shower she's hosting this afternoon. Doing one of my favorite runs ever after work today. There is a lake right in the town I work on. You can do a 10 or 12 mile loop - about 90% of the run is right on the lake. I'm going to do an easier 10 today and then do a long run tomorrow with a friend who is also hoping to break 1:30. My biggest task this weekend is to find my bleeping iPod shuffle! I've cleaned my entire house and I can't find it. I'm ridiculously hard on iPods - I think I go through 1-2 every single year! But I can't run without music... I'm starting to get a little nervous here. I don't want to have to buy another stupid iPod!

PK - very nice running ... be careful though, I know we said your easy pace was 1:27, but wasn't serious. Probably don't want to do too many of your easy runs at too fast of a pace. You have really made some great gains!

DJW - good luck on your 5k and we hope to see yet another PR for you! That comment by cheapcape was funny too.

philly - thanks for reminding me that I need to get back to my once a week strength days at the gym. I just do about 30-45 minutes of mid weight with high reps.

brent - hope you find your ipod ... isn't it weird how every time you clean stuff up is when you wind up losing something that you always knew where it was before? I like that video and it's pretty spot on, haha! You should be able to find a full in the fall since you are already building a real nice base! It would be great to see a lot of guys on here qualify for boston this fall.

Me - my running is going to take a back seat a little bit while I get my bike base back. Woke up today a little achy in my right leg, but after starting my workout it loosened up a lot ... wound up with a 3.5 hour, 72 mile bike ride today. Sunday I will be starting an 8 days of biking challenge, so I will have to fit runs in where I can. Good news is that I'm working 9am - 6pm or 2pm - 11pm each day. So it's possible to get a run in before and a bike later on a couple days.

DJW - I plan on doing the Columbus Marathon on October 20th. My wife is due October 8th, but we talked and she says I should do it and try to qualify for boston ... if I do the first or second half of that in 1:30, does that count for the sub-1:30 half?

Joe- thanks Mcmillan has my easy pace from 4.22- 4.50 km but that was based off my PRs. Yes I would count that half of a full especially if they have mats at halfway.

Brent- 6 months of solid base sounds very good for you. Women rule the world no doubt haha. Maybe this is your chance to break away from your reliance of music on your runs !

Philyl- good call on the cutback week if your are having some aches. Im out of craft beer. I loved all of them except one so 11/12 is a good score. Problem is now I tried a corona and it tasted ****e.

Ran- good stuff, rain is great.

DJW- 5ks are nervy for me too because of the intensity ( you know its gonna hurt some ) but remember its over pretty quick ( especially for you ! ). Yes go out at 17 flat pace for 2 miles and then see what you have left. When it hurts keep thinking of the new PR and reporting it back to us lot. My next half I will be just trying to improve on the last one. The course includes 2 laps ( 6kms ) of the Mount Maunganui base track which I often talk about and is a roller coaster ride of ups and downs and will be hard to maintain a nice tempo thru here. It is beautiful though with tree canopies over the track and the Pacific Ocean lapping on the rocks.

I got my 23km long run in at about a 7.45 mile pace. Somebody yelled out ****er at me from a car so I must have some enemies out there.

This puts me at 56 miles for the week. Tomorrow I SHOULD take a rest day !

Joe - absolutely counts as a sub 90, or TWO sub 90s. I'll put you down twice if you do it!. I hope you qualify for Boston, that would be a fantastic experience that someday I would like to get also. My qualifying time for Boston 2014 is 3:05:00.

Kiwi - yep you're absolutely right, the last mile or so in the 5k is quite painful. There have been several races in which I will think about my report to this group, and that's what keeps me going. That looks like a beautiful course. (tough though). Maybe you passed the one who yelled at you from their car in a previous race, lol. Oh, btw, I hate corona too.

Angel - will your goal be sub 3 hr?

Thanks for the wishes all. I'm off in a couple minutes to do a light warm up run, then off to the race. Starts in 1.5 hours.